De liefde van haar leven

by Harriet Evans, Parma van Loon (Translator)

De Londense Kate Miller lijkt in niets meer op de ietwat sukkelige tiener van vroeger. Ze heeft een geslaagde carrière bij een glossy, plannen voor een geweldige bruiloft en een leuke huisgenoot. Maar op een dag stort haar leven in – op een dramatische, pijnlijke en onomkeerbare manier.
Kate verbrandt al haar schepen achter zich. Ze vlucht naar New York, waar ze haar tijd vult met een suf baantje. Ze moet terug naar Londen als haar vader ernstig ziek wordt. Daar voert ze lastige gesprekken met hem, wandelt ze met haar bejaarde bovenbuurman, en ontmoet ze ook haar vroegere vrienden weer – Zoe, Francesca en Mac. Allemaal zijn ze door die ene dag voor altijd met elkaar verbonden, die ene dag waarop alles voorgoed veranderde. En Kate merkt dat ze zich niet meer wil verstoppen voor alles en iedereen – en zeker niet voor Mac…

Genres: Chick Lit, Romance, Fiction, Womens Fiction, British Literature, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance

366 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

I was born in London and grew up there. I was very bookish, and had a huge imagination which used to cause me to get rather anxious at times. Now I know it's a good thing for a writer to have. I loved musicals, and playing imaginative games, and my Barbie perfume making kit. Most of all I loved reading. I read everything, but I also read lots of things over and over, which I think is so important.

At university I read Classical Studies, which is a great way of finding out that the world doesn't change much and people make the same mistakes but it's interesting to look at why. I was at Bristol, and i loved the city, making new friends, being a new person.

After university I came back to London and got a job in publishing. I loved working in publishing so much, and really felt for the first time in my life that when I spoke people understood what I was saying. Book people are good people. I became an editor after a few years, working with many bestselling novelists, and in 2009 I left to write full time.

I've written 13 novels and several short stories and one Quick Read, which is an excellent way of getting people into reading more. I've acquired a partner and two children along the way.

In 2019 we moved to Bath, out of London, and I am very happy there. We live opposite a hedgerow, and I can be boring about gardening, and there's room for my collection of jumpsuits and all our books. We have lots of books. Apart from anything else they keep the house warm. xxx

Reviews

[carrietracy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a little startled at all the love for this. I didn't think this was as bad as most books I rate a two, but it had 2 huge detractors for me.

1. I was really irritated at how long it took for us to get to the big reveal of the terrible event that Kate lived through. Also, I felt the terrible event was a bit over the top.

2. The ending was crap. Rather than write the ending, Evans fast forwards a few months and fills us in on what's going on then. While it certainly got her out of some tricky bits of writing, it deprived readers of something we've been waiting for for most of the book.

[Kendra · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this isn’t my favorite Harriet Evans book, it’s still a good read. Really, I seem to enjoy everything she’s written, and A Hopeless Romantic is one of my favorites (it’s not really for bimbos – shhh! don’t tell the review below!).

Yes, as other reviewers have said, it could have been more concise, and I sometimes found myself thinking, “Hurry up and get on with it!” And I honestly would have liked to have seen more of the interaction between Kate and Mac.

But that plot twist! Wow! I thought I knew what was coming, but I had it totally backward. The book is worth reading for that point alone, but there’re lots of other good things about it.

I liked Kate, and Evans did a good job of making her sympathetic. The rest of the characters were good, too – particularly in the sense that they seemed three dimensional. One thing I really like about a lot of British fiction is the same thing I like about British movies: the characters aren’t always perfect. Rather, they’re quirky and idiosyncratic, they have real faults instead of just the kind of faux-flaws that you might admit to in a job interview (“My worst character flaw? Oh, I supposed I’m just a bit too dedicated to my work!”), and even the main characters don’t always look and behave as prettily as they might wish. Sometimes they even come across as myopic and complaining, but since those are traits shared by a large percentage of the developed world’s population, it seems okay to me.

I will say that since the real “love” of Kate’s life doesn’t make it into all that much of the book, maybe Evans should have called it The Hell of Her Life.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Love of Her Life by Harriet Evans was another novel I loved by this author. Kate Miller has run away from her life to New York to live with her mother and stepfather. Three years after a broken engagement and the loss of her job, Kate returns to her home in England when her father falls ill. She must face what she left behind and the events that drove her away.

The novel switches between the past and present, and with each flashback, we get closer to finding out the reason for Kate's hasty departure to New York. The big question is whether she is ready to face her problems to continue on with a life which has reached a standstill. Kate is a strong character whom I couldn't help rooting for.

I really enjoyed this novel. I read and loved A Hopeless Romantic by the same author and was eager to read this one. I enjoyed it almost as much. The mystery kept me reading, and I laughed as much as I wanted to cry. I would recommend this to everyone, especially those who have read and enjoyed her other novel. I'm eager to read more by her.

[Donna (Currently Busy) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first Harriet Evans book. I liked it but thought the story could have been told in fewer pages. The reader is drawn in by wondering what the cataclysmic event was that caused Kate to leave London and move to New York. When this incident is eventually explained, I felt disappointed in Zoe's character. I can't tell you why because I don't want to spoil it for future readers. I will only say that the explanation Zoe gives Kate towards the end of the book was something I thought she should have told her several years prior.

I couldn't decide between two or three stars but eventually decided to give the author the benefit of the doubt. Normally I'm a cynic and don't trust humans to keep secrets - especially ones that affect people's lives like the characters in this story. Lastly, let's just say that I don't believe anyone can talk another person out of continuing to cheat on their significant other after a clear pattern has already been established.

[Amani Maher · Rating 1 out of 5]

Agonizingly slow and painfully DULL and till now I really don't know how I got the patience to finish that!

[Eirene Ritznore · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shakespeare aptly put it, " Oh God, here is a dish I love not," only in this case instead of being unable to "endure my Lady Tongue," I believe it is best to say " I cannot endure the Lady's mind." Delving into the mind of Kate Miller, the protagonist of this extremely frustrating novel, is like watching a tennis match at Wimbledon- jogging back and forth between one bad decision and another equally horrid decision, watching them volleyed about over and over and over- oh, and did I mention, OVER again.

I will say this much, most of my issue with this novel is most assuredly NOT the author's fault. Ms. Evans is an excellent writer who did a very good job in this book. Yet, I could not identify with her main character, Kate Miller. I tried. I believe I understand her issues of insecurity- many of which stem from her parents and, for all intent and purpose, her disappointingly rough childhood. She is shy, extremely introverted and unsure of herself. She is just fleshing out her life out of college. She is starting to grow-up, and it's a big deal. She is a nice woman. She's geeky, which is one of the main things I do like about her.

Much of the book did not bother me. I went through the story, learning about the various horrors that befell her. It's very real. Her running away from London to New York and cutting her friends out of her life completely, cutting herself off from life completely are very real and understandable. However, when she returns, her decisions and handling of situations is so whishy-washy that it became more than frustrating. Then, when it began to start hurting people, and quite frankly, being rather stupid, I started to get a short fuse with the book. Perhaps this is all rational, but it is not for me.

It was the last 200 pages that made finishing the book difficult. Her treatment of Mac and his treatment of her was beyond, beyond for me. It reminded me of the movie Something Borrowed (I'm aware this is a book, though I did not know that at the time of it's theatrical release). There was too much indecision, and coupled with that indecision, there were decisions being made that were hurtful and things being said that were nasty and unnecessary. So much of the time it all could have been solved if people would have been honest with themselves and said what they really thought and felt and then didn't worry so much about why they felt what they felt.

I also felt that it took forever to get to the alluded tragedy. She kept alluding to it, but it didn't manifest itself till past the halfway point. Furthermore, I felt that the ending was flat. Build up to a pretty big let down.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was predictable, silly and occasionally really annoying. Girl meets guy, they have a one-night fling and a week later she hooks up with her flat-mate and friend from university. Although she really is obviously less than head over heels, they end up engaged. A couple months before the wedding, she realizes he's having an affair with one of her best friends. Drama ensues. Guess what? The guy from the fling at the beginning turns up again and there is lots of mis-communication, but they end up together.

[Anne Brooke · Rating 2 out of 5]

The review on the front of this novel says it's "blissfully entertaining". Actually, no, it isn't. Kate is a self-obsessed ditherer and the hero, Mac, is an emotional abuser as far as I could see. I didn't much care for either of them.

[Lese87maus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Covergestaltung: okay 😐
Thematik: gut 😊
Schreibstil: gut 😊

Bei den Buch fiel mir die Bewertung nicht schwer, hing zwar lange dran, war aber nicht den Buch geschuldet.

Es ist locker leicht luftig geschrieben, eine ideale Liebesgeschichte. Also Fans dieser Richtung, macht euch ran, absolut empfehlenswert!

Die Charaktere sind alle toll beschrieben und man füllt sich direkt in die Geschichte rein versetzt. Man fühlt jede einzelne Storyline mit und hegt Groll gegen bestimmte Personen (die es verdienen).

Wenn ihr denkt, das ihr schnell hinter alle Geheimnisse getaucht seid, werdet ihr öfters eines besseren belehrt, da das Buch viele überraschende Wendungen birgt.

Möchte euch nicht zuviel verraten und ausversehen spoilern, daher halte ich mich mit zu vielen Informationen zurück.

Für Fans von Liebes & Freundschaftsgeschichten, wo nicht immer alles heiter Sonnenschein ist.

Lg

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Love of Her Life started out a bit slow, as Kate Miller, the heroine seems dull. As one character later describes her, Kate is a 30 year old who likes doilies and old people's pastimes. Kate is a London native, living in New York with her parents Venetia and Oscar. She has a dead end job (as do many chick lit heroines) at a mediocre publicists office, sings show tunes with her parents and their elderly neighbors for fun, doesn't really date, and is overall a bit drab. Kate finds out that her father is having an emergency kidney transplant and she must return to London to see him. Kate isn't too excited to travel to London, as she fled the city approximately three years earlier after some undisclosed traumatic event.

Once Kate arrives in London, the pace of the novel picks up, with constant allusions to this trauma. The reader doesn't know *what* happened to Kate, however, until finally, the writer flashes back to 1999, when Kate was a new college graduate with her first job at a magazine. The novel, from this point, alternates between 2007 and the period leading up to Kate's flight to New York. Evans does a good job shifting between time periods and I never found myself confused.

Eventually, the reader discovers that Kate gave up a promising career, a fiance, a tight knit group of friends, and ceased all contact with her past life. Ultimately, the novel includes a startling twist. Usually I am pretty good at predicting twists. In this case, however, I only guessed part of the twist - the ultimate tragic turn the novel took was a shocker for me and left me in tears. Like all chick lit that I have read, the ending is predictable, but Evans does a great job developing her characters, which are so multidimensional.

Overall, I found Kate to be a likeable character. Although she is self-absorbed - an annoying trait in a heroine - I sympathized with her. Ultimately, I felt that her self-centerdness wasn't really her fault as she really needed someone (i.e. her mother) to suggest that she see a therapist after experiencing a trauma. The novel isn't perfect. The ending was a bit drawn out. There were also some plot inconsistencies. For example, early in the book, we are told Kate's best friend Zoe quit her job as a lawyer before the trauma, but later in the book, the timing of her job change shifts to after the trauma. Further, I could never figure out Kate's friendship with Charly because she seems like a nasty character and a bad friend throughout. The novel was also very melancholic and at times, melodramatic. Don't expect this one to provide many laughs! Lastly, the novel could have been a good 50 pages shorter due to excessive wordiness. However, The Love of Her Life has an intersting plot and is generally well written. I think the character deveopment was stronger than most chick lit I have read and is overall a good read.

[bookandachai · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm giving this four stars because I couldn't put it down. Not because it's the best book ever written or the characters are something amazing, but because it was the perfect book for me at the time. I needed something I could just divulge into and four days later it was done. Amy mentioned there were some good twists and there really were, though I wanted to kill Kate sometimes. I loved this book being set in London and enjoyed the characters and finally finding out exactly what happened. I will definitely read some of her work again.

[BM · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story was a slow go at the beginning and seemed to be too tangled in creating a mysterious backdrop than diving into the heart of the story. And it's true, as the romantic hero states, our heroine seems too confused much of the time rather than exhibiting the "brilliant journalistic mind" she supposedly possesses.

[Lesley Book Lover · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ok read, but I didn’t like that it kept going back to the past then present, and just generally jumping around as if parts were missing.

[Sarah Zschunke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’d say this is moreso a 3.5. I did enjoy it as it went on. Kind of felt like watching a show.

BUT this was far too long for what it was. Kate was somewhat likable and so were her friends. No one was amazing though.

Mac felt kind of aggressive at certain points? Sean and Charly deserve each other. Glad she started looking rougher over the years.

I can’t believe Zoe didn’t tell Kate about Sean…. Seems pretty friendship ending to me. Though I guess Steve did die somewhat because of it.

[Yassmine Azeez · Rating 4 out of 5]

boring at first then things change and it turns to be a very interesting novel , enjoyed reading

[Helena Wildsmith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy reading this and the "big reveal" was incredibly heart breaking but a lot of this book just felt like filler. There was a lot of to-ing and fro-ing and just not really a lot happened. A nice, easy book to read on holiday by the pool but don't expect too much.

[Jane Woodcock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow start, but I soon got into it. This is the third book I've read by Harriet Evans, and I have enjoyed all three. Good characters. Some you liked, others you hated! A funny and charming read.

[LISA MARKHAM · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was given this book in a bundle of chic lit books. Not my top genre these days but I always say if it’s a good story it could keep anyone reading it. I’m afraid I didn’t feel it with this book though. Was a slow burner for me, too much backwards and forwards between the UK and the US with not much story in the middle. First half was better than the second of the book and expected more at the end.

[Melinda Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found "The Love of Her Life" to be a little bit grim, dark and depressing. I really couldn't get behind Kate and her choices. She's not ballsy enough to own up to what she should and could do, and thus walks around moping for most of the novel, but really doesn't give you a sense of why we should feel sorry for her.

Overall I found this narrative to be far too long and not at all interesting enough to warrant it's length.

The "terrible experience" was indeed terrible, but a little bit more in the way of lead up to this and perhaps a little bit sooner would have given a few of the characters more context, as it stood we have been hearing Kate harp on about these people for a good 200 + pages before we figure out what's happening and thats a lengthy commitment to someone who is a little on the beige side.

Don't read this if you want a feel good book, thats for sure!

[Leah Hess Windnagle · Rating 4 out of 5]

The start to this novel was super slow and confusing. The reader finds out Kate, the main character, ran away from London to New York for some reason, but we really aren't sure why. We're following Kate around her first few days back in London, as her father has fallen ill. We don't understand her background or why she is as uncomfortable being in London as she is.

Finally, we get some insight. And that's when the novel really picks up. I found it so hard to put down, even to eat! On the front cover, Glamour magazine promises this book to be "A page-turner...An unputdownable, gripping story". And they weren't lying.

Seriously, anyone who loves chick-lit needs to pick up this novel! Ms. Evans, I will definitely be reading the rest of your works!

[momruncraft · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book having really enjoyed Love Always by Harriet Evans. With the promise on the back, "You will cry guaranteed" and the glittery bling on the cover it seemed destined to be read and loved. Not so much.

In all honesty, it was hard to empathize with Kate Miller having just read about two profoundly strong and courageous female protagonists. Kate flees her life in London after a painful experience and heads to New York. Her reasons for leaving revealed, while tragic and indeed painful, weren't enough to pull it all together for me. I found myself intrigued and more interested in the storyline of Zoe, her best friend, and her struggles to rebuild her life and those of her children after the tragedy that changes her life forever. Disappointing.

[Nicole Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book by Harriet Evans that I have read and I really enjoyed it. Her writing style is very easy to read and she had enough twists and turns to keep you guessing and wanting more. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a great love story. I can't wait to read more of Harriet's books.

[Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

An "on the surface" great life that falls apart suddenly and tragically, but opens the door to the life that was meant to be for this shy and genuine character, Kate. I had a hard time putting this book down in order to get anything productive done in my own life!

[Anita Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book although it went on and on with endless description and dialog which was a bit depressing. Then, the writer jumped into the conclusion, which was predictable, but without much detail at all.

[Marion · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very slow moving story. Read the first 100 pages then skimmed thru the rest. Did not capture my interest. Won't try any other Harriet Evans books because of it.

[Ashley's Novel Idea · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just.... first. Not a love story, in the common use of the term. Is there a love story hidden in there sure, but you have to look hard. The four parts of this book were put in the wrong order if you ask me and There's so much fluff that it wasn't until page 245 that you had some sort of something to go off of. But then 100 pages later you're back to reading pointless fluff. The over all story is very sad, but it doesn't work in the way that it was told . I skimmed the last half of the book so I could just be done with it. Would I describe it as a "unputdownable gripping story"-Glamour, no I wouldn't.

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not into cliched romance and airy fairy storylines and luckily this was neither.
Full of great characters that I could like and hate and empathise with,I cared about them.
This had some romance but also drama, heartbreak, tragedy, passion, humour and a bit of star crossed lovers to keep me reading on and on into the night unable to put down.

As the story came to its conclusion I thought it could end anyway and I wouldn't have been happy but thankfully it ended just the right way.

[Jade · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice but slightly frustrating rom com as we follow Kate, who after a tragedy 3 years ago, legs it from everyone and hides out with her mother in New York. Kate’s feelings and decisions in this book go back and forth more than I could keep track of, to the point that I was a little ‘not bothered’ when t did finally end. However what I did appreciate is that, unlike a lot of similar books, I couldn’t guess some of the plot lines until at least half way through the book.

[Frau Ott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great romance. Finding oneself living on two sides of the ocean - I can relate -- not necessarily in terms of love - but life itself. I feel like I'm going home when I visit Germany, even though I have never lived there for more than three months at one time. Being the daughter of German immigrants has given me the opportunity to experience life here and in Germany. I am truly grateful.

[lfe_wth_elizabethh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. It was an easy read, as I'm travelling. I try to find easy reads while traveling; I don't like to get too lost in a book as I must be alert while moving from country to country.
Had some pretty good tea. Someone dies, someone cheats, messy "friendship" drama. Decent read. Will look to pick up more from her in future.